The parents of missing Madeleine McCann want Portuguese cops to determine the whereabouts of a convicted Spanish paedophile on the day their daughter vanished.

The 52-year-old, named by Spanish TV as Santiago del Valle Garcia, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of killing five-year-old Mari Luz Cortes, who disappeared near the Portuguese border in January, eight months before Maddy went missing from an Algarve hotel.

The suspect is said to have previous convictions for child abuse and indecent assault.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, said: "We hope the Portuguese police will be liaising with the Spanish police to establish this man's movements around the time Madeleine disappeared.

"We have no indication there is a direct link between the two cases.

"But given the proximity of the places Madeleine and Mari Luz disappeared from and the similarity in their ages, we believe it's important the Portuguese police make absolutely sure there's no connection now there's been an arrest."

The suspect is understood to be from Huelva, a 90-minute drive from Praia de Luz. Mari Luz disappeared from the town on January 13 after she went out to buy sweets. Her body was found floating in a local river on March 7.